Why chefs need to boil lobsters alive

Everyone seems to think that boiling lobster alive is an unnecessary act of cruelty perpetuated by chef all over the world for no reason.

But that’s simply not true.

One of the characteristics of crustacean physiology is the absence of a localized nervous system. This does not mean that they don’t have a brain, but that, unlike vertebrates, theirs is certainly not solely in their head.

Most of their brain matter is actually distributed down the nerve cord.

If one were to cut the lobster’s head off, the lobster would die even more slowly and painfully than in a boiling pot, and removing the entire nerve system would be something akin to vivisection.

That is the reason why lobsters have to be cooked alive.